Holidays in Ukraine

Very often we look forward to holidays to enjoy ourselves. As you know the word “holidays’ comes from the words ‘holy day’. The point is that all the holidays were first religious festivals, but nowadays many of them have nothing to do with religion. Each country has holidays honouring important events in its history. Many historical events are of great importance for all peoples and countries throughout the world.

The 24-th of August 1991 Ukraine became a sovereign state. That is why Ukrainian people celebrate this day as the greatest national holiday. This holiday commemorates the freedom of the Ukrainian people.

The New Year Holiday is widely observed in Ukraine too. The most common type of celebration is the New Year party.This holiday is the holiday of expectations. People decorate the New Year tree with toys and coloured lights. When the clock strikes 12, everybody drinks champagne and says to each other: ‘Happy New Year! “

Christmas Day is observed on the 7-th of January. Most people go to church and have a tasty dinner.

On the 8^th of March we celebrate the Women’s Day. It is a nice spring holiday when men give presents and flowers to their wives, sweethearts, girl-friends, sisters and daughters.

The Shevchenko Days are also very popular in Ukraine. They are celebrated in March every year.

Another great national holiday is Easter, the holiday of celebrating Christ’s rising from the death. It is a time of giving or receiving presents which traditionally take the form of an Easter egg.

April Fool’s day named from the custom of playing practical jokes or sending on fool’s errands is on April the 1^st. People enjoy joking and laughing on this holiday.

The 9^th of May is the Day of Victory over fascist invaders in 1941-1945. People lay flowers to the war memorials, to the tombs of the people who died in the war. There is a salute and fireworks in the evening.

The 28^th of June is the Constitution Day of Ukraine. On this day the Ukrainian Constitution was adopted.

Easter

Easter is the most important festival in the Christian calendar and it holds the key to understanding Christianity. Easter has a very important religious meaning for Christians. The events that happened to Jesus Christ and his followers in the days before and during Easter 2000 years ago remain in the centre of Christian belief. Every religious holiday in Ukraine is marked by the ringing of church bells. But on Velykden the bells sound particularly majestically. They announce to the whole world glad news: Christ is risen! Why is it so important? Resurrection of Christ proclaims immortality of soul. Christ rises from the dead. Resurrection gives us hope. Resurrection is a victory over death.

The date of Easter changes each year. It falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon after March 21. The preparations for Easter begin 40 days before it, on Shrove Tuesday. This marks the beginning of a period of fasting, called Lent.

The main Easter celebrations take place during “Holy week”, which begins on Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter). Maundy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter) is traditionally the day when Christians do good acts. Good Friday is the most solemn day of Easter because this is the day when Christians remember Christ’s crucifixion. On Easter Saturday churches are closed to symbolise Christ lying in the tomb. But Sunday – the day of Christ’s Resurrection – is a joyful occasion and many Christians prepare for it with an overnight church service, or “vigils”.